No. 9 Razorbacks Set For NCAA Regional Championships

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 9 University of Arkansas men’s cross country team will travel to Waco, Texas, to compete in the 2013 NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Friday. The men’s 10k Championship race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. “This is a qualifying race, it’s a semifinal race and all we have to is get to the line in first or second place,” head coach Chris Bucknam. “It is a rare race that if we come in second place, I will be equally as happy if we were to win. This is all that matters right now, it is a short turn around between regionals and nationals. We are just going to go out and try to get to the finals in Terre Haute, Ind., because that is all that matters.” The Razorbacks are coming off the race after winning the program’s 21st Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship with a 1-2-3 finish scoring 31 points for the meet. Senior Kemoy Campbell and Bucknam were named the SEC Runner and Coach of the Year, respectively, after the race. Campbell led the Razorbacks at the SEC Championship and went on to finish in a meet-record time of 22:58.73, beating the previous record held by Arkansas’ Josphat Boit in 2004 with a time of 23:09.91. His time was also a course record at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., besting the previous time of 23:34.0. The Razorbacks will now hunt for their 33rd NCAA Regional Championships title Bucknam has earned two regional titles during his tenure at Arkansas with both of them being coming in Waco. The program has also seen 19 indvidual NCAA Regional Champions, including All-American Dorian Ulrey who won the 2009 title under the leadership of coach Bucknam. Arkansas returns All-Region performers in Solomon Haile, David Flynn and Campbell. The Razorbacks have held the top spot in the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Rankings all season long. Texas holds the No. 2 spot while host Baylor has the No. 10 spot. Fans can follow live updates during the meet on the team’s official Twitter account @RazorbackTF and results will be available at NCAA.com. For more information on Arkansas men’s cross country, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.